Breakdown of När de hör larmet förstår de situationen och faran.
de
they
och
and
förstå
to understand
höra
to hear
när
when
larmet
the alarm
situationen
the situation
faran
the danger
Questions & Answers about När de hör larmet förstår de situationen och faran.
Why is it förstår de instead of de förstår in the second half of the sentence?
This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action! The first part of the sentence, När de hör larmet (When they hear the alarm), is a time clause that takes up the entire first position. Because the verb must come second in the main sentence, it starts with the verb förstår, followed by the subject de.
Can I use då instead of när to mean "when" here?
While då can sometimes mean "when," när is the standard word (a subordinating conjunction) used to link two actions happening at the same time. Då is much more commonly used to mean "then" or "at that time."
How do the definite endings ("the") work for the words larmet, situationen, and faran?
They show whether the base word is an en or ett word. Larm is an ett word, so it adds -et to become larmet (the alarm). Situation is an en word, adding -en to become situationen (the situation). Fara (danger) is an en word that already ends in a vowel, so it just adds -n to become faran (the danger).
How should I pronounce the word de in this sentence?
Even though it is spelled de, it is pronounced dom in standard spoken Swedish. You will hear dom for "they" almost everywhere!
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